Requiem
by RobinGabriella
Summary: Maddie moved to the small village of Clockford about six months ago. Now, a strange, new family has arrived, along with a string of unfortunate deaths, all the victims suffering from blood loss. The new family is involved somehow - and who will be next?
1. Chapter 1

We moved to Clockford six months ago. The move coincided with my move into sixth form, so I didn't have any exams to worry about, and with the death of my grandfather, who was the only tie we had left to London. I was glad to leave the city. Although it meant I'd lose what precious few friends I had, it meant I would breathe clean air, see green fields, and experience life in a village for the first time.

In a city, no one knew who you were and didn't care. If you fell in the street, no one would help you up. Mum told me about her childhood in another small village. Everyone knew everyone else, and the community was like one big family. You didn't even have to lock your doors at night. What she didn't tell me was that you had little privacy, that Clockford didn't take well to intruders, and that once you broke some sacred law of village etiquette, you would be shunned forever.

The first law I broke was being Catholic in a Protestant school.

For at least a month I was the sole object of interest. They would all stare at my new uniform, at my city haircut, how I didn't pray with them every morning, even what I ate. No one approached me, and no one tried to befriend me.

I told myself that it was my fault, at least at first. That I must be doing something wrong, or that something must be really weird about me to make them treat me like a freak. Maybe I just had a really unappealing personality. I tried talking to them in class, at lunch, before and after school, but it didn't work. After two weeks, I gave up and resigned myself to solitary confinement. The school needed my good city kid grades, anyway.

At the beginning of the second month of my exile, another student spoke to me.

"Hey. Want to sit with us today?" His tanned hand gripped the edge of the table as he eased himself into a chair. I looked up, puzzled. Surely he didn't mean me?

"No, thanks. I don't think anyone likes me very much." It was such a stupid thing to say, and I felt myself blush at the semi-accusation. He was talking to me. It was a start.

"Well, I don't really know you. How about I sit with you this lunch and I pass judgment when we're done?" He smiled, and I looked into his face for the first time. He had a wide, appealing smile and honest eyes. Dark hair framed his face. Several girls from other tables stared at him, or glared at me with jealousy in their eyes.

"Sure." I shrugged. He sat properly, taking a sandwich out of his pocket.

"I'm Mark, by the way." He said around a mouthful of egg and cress.

"I'm-"

"You're Madeleine Cox. I know. Everyone knows who you are," He smiled knowingly

"It's Maddie."

"Oh. Well, then you're Maddie Cox. _Now_ I know." He laughed. His smile was contagious; I felt my lips twitch.

Mark was my first and only friend. He introduced me to all the other kids in our year, but none of them really tried to be friendly with me unless he was there too. I was grateful for the friendship, but I didn't like what our presence did to my classmates. Everyone assumed I was sleeping with him for acceptance. It made half of the girls shun me entirely, and half of the girls complete bitches to me, so I stuck with Mark whenever possible.

The one girl I wasn't able to shake off was Bethany, Mark's girlfriend. She stuck to Mark, and consequently to me, like glue, policing our every action. In his presence, she was all sunshine and sweetness, but the minute he turned his back the claws were out and she was looking to pull Mark away as soon as possible.

"What time should I meet you tomorrow?" She cooed, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She was doing it on purpose, talking about their date.

"About two? At the bus stop?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you there." She leaned up and pecked him on the cheek, eyes locked on me.

It bothered me that she thought I was her competition. If I wanted him that badly, I wouldn't hang around him. I'd be part of the crowd of avid admirers, ogling from the outside.

Maybe if there had been more time, it could have been something.

A couple of months later, a new family moved to Clockford. They bought the old manor house a little way out to town, so they were largely ignored, but at least the pressure was off my family. Although we weren't quite so well embraced yet, the new freaks had arrived and the villagers were looking to poke holes in all of them.

"Hey," Mark whispered across the table during maths. "Do you want to come back to my place tonight? I have a couple of new games. And my mum's cooking her awesome pasta."

"Sure." No wonder people thought something was going on with offers like that. But that's really all we did. No sex. No flirting. Just zombie video games, glasses of lukewarm coke, and bowls of pasta. I killed another digital zombie, virtual blood spattering the screen. Killing zombies was a great way to relieve stress. I pictured every monster had Bethany's face, grinning like a psychopath as I sliced it off with a machete.

"Mark? Mark! Get in here, phone for you!" Mark's brother shouted from the hall. Mark's house wasn't that big, and sound travelled well through the old walls. He froze the game and left me alone. I leaned back, counting the cracks on his ceiling.

The door slammed open.

"She's dead. They just found her. She's dead." Mark whispered. His eyes were wide, and his tanned skin was bleached white with shock.

"Who?"

"B-bethany."


	2. Chapter 2

"What? Seriously?" He nodded grimly, gripping the door frame in one hand. I stood up, trying desperately to think of ways to comfort him. I decided just standing near him was enough; I didn't want to be pushy.

For a moment, we stood in silence. He loosened his death grip on the door frame and leaned against it instead, head down and shoulders slumped. I couldn't tell if he was crying. I wasn't crying or even sad – I was numb. I didn't know how to react to the death of someone I didn't really like.

"They found her just on the village limits. She was still alive when they-" His voice cracked and broke, and he sank to his knees. I followed him down, stroking his back in a pathetic show of support.

I didn't want to pry. I didn't want to upset him. When his mother came up the stairs, I motioned for her to take over, and I left the house at a run. I needed to know if it was true.

The village had one very small doctor's practice. Clockford was remote enough to need one; any serious injuries or illnesses had to be airlifted out because the drive through the forest around the village was too rough. Dr. Morris was the sole doctor; the other GP was on maternity leave.

I burst through the doors, a chime jingling frantically over my head. The nurse at the reception stared at me, and then bent over a filing cabinet. Sobbing was coming from the back room. Bethany's parents had arrived, too.

For courtesy's sake, I waited for half an hour. The crying subsided to whimpers, and I did my best to cough pathetically as Bethany's parents walked past me. Mrs Ellis, her mother, clung to her husband like he was the only thing keeping her pinned to the Earth. He just shambled forward, zombielike, barely taking in his surroundings. He thanked no one in particular as he took some documents from the nurse, pulling his wife out of the door.

"Dr. Morris." I stood up, cornering him against the reception. I had to find out to put Mark's mind at rest. "How did she die? Exactly, I need every detail."

"That's very private information, Miss Cox. We're not obligated to release that kind of information without the prior consent of-"

"Please! She was my best friend!" I summoned tears, trying to imagine what it must be like to be Mark.

"Strictly off the record, a heart attack. She had a heart attack, probably brought on by physical stress combined with anaemia." He interrupted the nurse, who sniffed and went back to filing.

"But she was so young! Young people don't have heart attacks, do they?"

"It's rare, but all the conditions were right for Bethany. She was very pale, and her mother said she had been very tired for the past couple of days. We suspect she was severely anaemic, though how she got in such a state without anyone noticing is unbelievable." He stood in silence for a moment, rubbing his hands over each other. "Is there a dance coming up? Was she feeling pressured about anything?"

"I-I don't think so." I rubbed my eyes, proud of my masterful acting.

"So she was eating normally? Then malnutrition can be discounted. She didn't have any open wounds, so I highly doubt it was blood loss. Unless-"

"Can I see her?"

"Just for a minute. I have an appointment in ten minutes, and I'm really not supposed to be doing this, but since the news will be all over Clockford within hours I'm not going to conceal it." He opened the 'staff only' door into the back room. Cold air rushed out, along with the smell of cleaning fluid and chlorine. The smell of morgue.

Three metal tables were pushed against the back wall, and a fourth stood dourly in the centre of the room under the fluorescent lighting. A sheet, bleached by the light, covered a person-shaped lump. Dr. Morris peeled back the sheet, revealing Bethany.

She wasn't pretty in death. Even through the lighting, I could see how pale she was. The girlish freckles on her cheeks looked like patches of mould, dark against her pallor. Her hair was stringy and straw-like, pulled back from her face. Her lips were slightly parted, inviting flies and bacteria inside.

I bit my lip and turned away.

"Put the sheet back over her, please. I don't want to see her anymore." I said hurriedly.

"What I want to know is why she was in the forest by the Rochford house. It doesn't make any sense for her to have gone there." In the end, Dr. Morris was just another Clockford villager, afraid of the unknown and foreign. I could think of a hundred reasons to go to the Rochford house, and every one of them ended in me satisfying my curiosity about the place.

"It's haunted," Mark had whispered after a week of continual prodding. "The new owners are in for a shock when they learn about the place they bought!"

In truth, I was probably more curious about it than they were, all the more so now that Bethany was dead.

"Thanks, Doctor. You've put my mind at rest." I said, making my way to the door. Wrapped up in my own thoughts, I didn't notice the direction my feet took. Instead of heading back to Mark's house to try and comfort him, reassure him that Bethany had died in as peaceful a way as possible, they took me to the main road, then north. Towards the Rochford house.


	3. Chapter 3

The Rochford house was an old Georgian house. It's blank, off-white façade loomed between the trees, and was something of a local landmark. It loomed ahead of me as I followed the dirt track, the dying rays of the sun casing long shadows over the path. There was no breeze, no birds sang in the trees, and I didn't see a single living thing in the woods. It was absolutely still.

"Can I help you?" A voice said, and I jumped. A girl about my age stepped out from between the trees, her face in shadow.

"I-I'm sorry. I was just walking, and I ended up here," I forced my body to relax, trying to take a more natural stance.

"Oh, okay. Can I join you?" She stepped closer to me, coming out of the shadows. She was smaller than me, and she had long brown hair trailing free down her back. A heavy fringe overshadowed her eyes, but she was smiling warmly. "I haven't seen most of the surrounding forest yet, and I don't want to risk getting lost,"

"Actually, I was just about to head back. Maybe another time," I said turning around, tucking my hands into my pockets. She watched me very closely, fingers trembling by her sides.

"Sure. I'm Rebecca Parker, by the way. My family and I just moved in to this house," I tried not to look startled. So she was part of the elusive new family, which is why I hadn't seen her around town.

"I'm Maddie Cox. I'll see you around," I smiled and waved over my shoulder. I felt her eyes boring into my back.

I broke into a run, suddenly desperate to get away from the Rochford house. I wiped my palms on my jeans, wiping off the sweat I hadn't felt accumulate. I pushed a few strands of pale hair off my face, and forced myself to slow down. It was irrational to be scared of a house. I scolded myself for acting like that to Rebecca. She was probably as lonely as I was.

The sun finally dipped below the horizon, and headed home. I was never again more grateful that my parents had chosen a house with thick stone walls and a solid wood front door. The familiar surroundings were my armour against the unknown.

I dashed into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me, and flung myself on the bed. It creaked under my weight, and I grabbed a pillow. I felt drained. I would comfort Mark in the morning; but sleep was my top priority. I didn't even bother changing into pyjamas. I let myself doze off.

I woke up again at three in the morning to a tapping on my window. I swiped at my sleep-blurred eyes, shoving my hair off my face. Pulling myself upright, I swung my legs off the bed and walked haphazardly towards the window. Mark had the worst timings.

Two paces away from the window, I remembered I was on the second floor.

Wide awake, I crept towards the window. A draft blowing in through a gap in the window frame sent shivers across my body. Tentatively, I took the final step.

A pale hand gripped the outside window ledge. It strained, pulling whatever was attached to it upwards, an arm, then a head of straggling yellow hair. Bethany.


	4. Chapter 4

"Shit!" I hissed, stumbling away from the window. It – _Bethany_ – smiled, unsheathing two wickedly pointed fangs. Her skin was grey with the death pallor, her pretty features sunken and drooping. Her eyes glared steadily at me, all the colour leeched from the irises and swallowed up by the rapidly dilating pupil.

"Let me in, Maddie," she groaned, rocking forwards. "Just open the window. I want see you properly,"

I rose to my feet. My arms extended towards the window, towards Bethany's grinning face, towards her _fangs. _My whole body shook visibly, reflected in the glass of the window pane. Every muscle in my body was urging me not to take another step. Both my body and my brain rebelled, but my limbs moved of their own accord

"That's right. We're friends, really, aren't we? That's all you ever wanted. That's why Mark is so _precious_," Something inside my head snapped. Just a step from the window, I reached for the edge with the catch. Bethany's face brightened, grinning crazily as I drew nearer.

At the last second, I snatched the edge of the curtain and pulled it across the window, blocking her horrible face from view. I ran across the room, snatching my rosary from my dressing table.

"Y-You aren't welcome here! Go away!" I tried to yell, but it came out as little more than a faint whisper. Breathing heavily, I sank to the floor, clasping the rosary to my chest.

And I stayed there, on the floor of my bedroom, waiting for the sun to rise behind my sloppily drawn curtain. The monsters always left at dawn.


End file.
